Media Composer is a non-linear editing (NLE) software application developed by Avid Technology. First introduced in the late 1980s and widely adopted in the 1990s, it has become a prominent tool in the professional editing landscape, particularly in the film, television, and broadcast industries. Media Composer is used in a variety of production environments, including feature films, television shows, documentaries, and streaming service content.
Its interface, functionality, and workflow are designed to accommodate the complex requirements of professional editing, offering advanced tools for managing large volumes of footage and collaborative post-production work. Due to its widespread use in professional environments, it is often regarded as one of the industry standards for non-linear editing, particularly in Hollywood film production and broadcast television. The software's features and workflow are closely aligned with the needs of high-end post-production, and it continues to be a favored tool among professional editors.
Contents
History
Media Composer was first released in 1989 as Avid/1, an offline editing system designed for the Macintosh II. According to Eric Peters, one of the founders of Avid, most prototypes of 'The Avid' were originally built on Apollo workstations. At some point, Avid demonstrated one of their products at SIGGRAPH, a prominent conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques.Says Peters, "Some Apple people saw that demo at the show and said, 'Nice demo. Wrong platform!' It turned out they were evangelists for the then new Macintosh II (with six slots). When we got back to our office (actually a converted machine shop) after the show, there was a pile of FedEx packages on our doorstep. They were from Apple, and they contained two of their prototype Macintosh II machines (so early they didn't even have cases, just open chassis). Also there were four large multisync monitors. Each computer was loaded with full memory (probably 4 megs at the time), and a full complement of Apple software (pre-Claris). That afternoon, a consultant knocked on our door saying, 'Hi. I'm being paid by Apple to come here and port your applications from Apollo to Macintosh.' He worked for us for several weeks, and actually taught us how to program the Macs." At the time, Macs were not considered powerful enough for video editing. However, the Avid engineering team managed to achieve a data rate of 1,200 kilobytes per second, which enabled offline video editing on the Macintosh platform.
In August 1992, Avid introduced the Film Composer, the first non-linear digital editing system capable of capturing and editing natively at 24 frames per second. Steven Cohen was the first editor to use Film Composer on a major motion picture, Lost in Yonkers (1993). The system has since been used by notable editors, including Walter Murch, who used it for The English Patient, the first digitally edited film to win an Academy Award for Best Editing.
1994: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Avid Film Composer with a plaque for Science & Technical Achievement. Six persons were recognized in that effort: Bill Warner, Eric Peters, Joe Rice, Patrick O'Connor, Tom Ohanian, and Michael Phillips. For continued development, Avid received an Oscar representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid Film Composer system for motion picture editing. Today, Film Composer is no longer available, since all of its specific film editing features were implemented into Media Composer.
In July 2009, American Cinema Editors (ACE) announced that the ACE Board of Directors had recognized Avid Media Composer software with the Board's first ACE Technical Excellence Award.
Features
Key features
Managed Media (dedicated media locations and media types which reduce stream counts and increases performance)
Animatte
3D Warp
Paint
Live Matte Key
Tracker / Stabiliser
Timewarps with motion estimation (FluidMotion)
SpectraMatte (high quality chroma keyer)
Color Correction toolset (with Natural Match)
Stereoscopic editing abilities (expanded in MC v6)
Linked Clips (previously referred to as AMA - Avid Media Access): the ability to link to and edit with P2, XDCAM, R3D, QuickTime, AVCHD, and other raw media files directly without capture or consolidating/transcoding.
Mix and Match - put clips of any frame rate, compression, scan mode or video format on the same timeline
SmartTools - drag and drop style editing on timeline, can be selectively adjusted to the types of actions that the user wants to use when clicking on timeline.
RTAS - (RealTime AudioSuite), support for realtime track-based audio plug-ins on the timeline.
5.1 and 7.1 Surround Sound audio mixing, compatible with Pro Tools
Script-Based Editing - The ability to import the same scripts used on film shoots (or transcripts in documentary) with the goal of dragging media colips to the scripts and syncing them up. This gives users the ability to click on a word and be taken directly to that portion of the video where the word is spoken.
Color correction
Avid Symphony has a strong history with broadcast users because much of its design and implementation came from the scopes, monitoring, and terminology that was familiar to the television industry's online mastering process. It has since grown to include Advanced/Secondary/Relational Color Correction and Universal HD Mastering.
Avid Symphony used to be a separate product from Media Composer, purchased as a standalone system for mastering. Beginning with Media Composer 7, Symphony became integrated within Media Composer as a paid option. In 2014 when Media Composer 8 was launched along with Avid's subscription licensing, the paid option included monthly and annual subscription licenses.
Software protection
The software used to be protected by means of "blesser" floppy, tied to the Nubus's TrueVista board (meaning that if the board is replaced, a new "blesser" floppy comes with the board), and later with USB dongles. As of version 3.5 the dongle is optional, and existing users may choose to use software activation or keep using their dongles, while new licenses are sold exclusively with software activation. The software ships with installers for both Mac and Windows and can physically be installed on several computers, allowing the user to move the software license between systems or platforms depending on the licensing method.
Licensing options
There are currently four versions of Media Composer.
Media Composer First is a freeware version that allows users to publish completed works directly to the internet.
Media Composer, Media Composer Ultimate, and Media Composer Enterprise are paid licenses, each one includes access to more features respectively.
User Interface
The Avid Media Composer user interface has seen many changes and upgrades over the years. Early versions focused on creating somewhat of a digital representation of the film editing process. The idea of organizing clips using bins was a familiar concept, so it was easy for editors to migrate from the flatbed editing world into Avid's digital interface. Also familiar was the Source/Record window which was seen in KEM and Steenbeck systems.
Through the 1990s, the interface saw practical upgrades which were made in collaboration between its designers who were also working editors, professional editors working in Hollywood, and at network television studios. The interface design remained decidedly plain and two-dimensional, focused more on clip management in the Timeline Window, than on UI colors and buttons.
Crossing Y2K and into the early 2000s with Media Composer 10, 11, and 12, the user interface saw significant advancements in not only project organization but also skeuomorphic design (making buttons and tools look like real-world items with lighting, shading, and sometimes textures). It gave users incredible power in defining their own preferences in button shapes and shading, color coding, workspace architecture, and other intricate customizations. In May 2003 when Avid Adrenaline introduced HD editing and a resetting of the version numbering back to 1.0, work on improving the user interface continued.
With the release of Media Composer 5, the user interface saw a visual change. After extensive testing, the entire industry began discovering that skeuomorphic designs and other visual elements were causing drains on performance. For Media Composer, it was decided to scale-back the design and chase a "flatter" approach. Users who upgraded to this version were initially upset at the loss of customizability but were indeed satisfied with the noticeable reduction in interface lag. This design lasted through Media Composer and Symphony versions 5.0 through 2018.12.15.
By Media Composer 7, 8, and 2018, there was a consistent outcry from customers asking Avid to upgrade the overall interface. The consistent complaint was that it felt "old".
During 2018, Avid conducted extensive interviews, listening sessions, and ACA meetings with hundreds of users to absorb as much of their opinions as possible. Key outcomes from those sessions included needs for stronger organization abilities for bins (bin containers), tools and other interface elements that could snap-to each other, a "paneled" interface that could mold itself to any screen size or configuration, and a means of toggling between the classic concept of Avid Workspaces in a newer, more accessible way (Workspace Toolbar). Another common complaint of the classic interface was its overall performance, which had laggy timeline behavior in comparison to other nonlinear edit systems (NLEs). While the Media Composer team worked on the new user interface, the engineers and architecture team retooled the underlying code and video engine. In June 2019, Avid released Media Composer 2019.6 including a new user interface.
Hardware
Hardware history
Media Composer as standalone software (with optional hardware) has only been available since June 2006 (version 2.5). Before that, Media Composer was only available as a turnkey system.
From 1991 until 1998, Media Composer 900, 1000, 4000 and 8000 systems were Macintosh-only, and based on the NuVista videoboard by Truevision. The first-release Avids (US) supported 640x480 30i video, at resolutions and compression identified by the prefix "AVR". Single-field resolutions were AVR 1 through 9s; interlaced (finishing) resolutions were initially AVR 21–23, with the later improvements of AVR 24 through 27, and the later AVR 70 through 77. AVR12 was a two-field interlaced offline resolution. Additionally, Avid marketed the Media Composer 400 and 800 as offline-only editors. These systems exclusively used external fast SCSI drives (interfaced through a SCSI accelerator board) for media storage. Avid media was digitised as OMFI (Open Media Framework Interchange) format.
In the mid-nineties, versions 6 and 7 of Media Composer 900, 1000, 8000 and 9000 were based on the Avid Broadcast Video Board (ABVB), supporting video resolutions up to AVR77. The video image was also improved to 720x480. 3D add-on boards (most notably the Pinnacle Alladin, externally, and the pinnacle genie pro board, internally, through special 100 pin bypass cable ) and 16bit 48K 4-channel and 8-channel audio I/O (Avid/Digidesign 442 and Avid/Digidesign 888) were optional.
The 1998 introduction of the Avid Symphony marked the transition from ABVB to the Meridien hardware, allowing for uncompressed SD editing. This introduction was also the first version of Media Composer XL available for the Windows operating system. Many users were concerned that Avid would abandon the Mac platform, which they eventually did not do. Media Composer XL versions 8 through 12.0.5 (models MC Offline XL, MC 1000 XL, MC 9000XL) were built around Meridien hardware. Compression options were expressed in ratios for the first time in the evolution of the product. Even though the video board had changed, the audio I/O was still handled by the Avid/Digidesign 888 (16bit 48K) hardware. At this time, 16x9 aspect ratios began to be supported.
Avid Media Composer Meridien was released through November 2003.
In 2003, Avid Mojo and Avid Adrenaline formed the new DNA (Digital Non-linear Accelerator) hardware line. The launch of Avid Media Composer Adrenaline brought along a software version renumbering, as it was labeled Avid Media Composer Adrenaline 1.0. At this time, Avid began using MXF (Material Exchange Format) formatting for media files. Avid products maintain compatibility with OMFI files.
Third-party supported breakout I/O hardware
Starting with Media Composer 6, a new Open IO API allowed third-party companies to interface their hardware into Media Composer. AJA Video Systems, Blackmagic Design, Matrox, BlueFish and MOTU are supporting this API. Avid's own DX hardware is still natively interfaced into the application which currently allows some extra features that Open IO is limited in (LTC timecode support for example). It is expected that over time some of these missing APIs will be added.
AJA IO Express: Starting with Media Composer 5.5, introduced support for the AJA IO Express interface. This interface will allow SD/HD input and output via SDI and HDMI. It also has analog video and audio outputs for monitoring. It connects to a computer via PCIe or ExpressCard/34 interface.
Matrox MXO2 Mini: Starting with Media Composer 5, Avid introduced support for the Matrox MXO2 Mini interface, as a breakout box with no additional processing. While this interface does have input connections, only output is supported by Media Composer v5.x, starting with Media Composer v6.x you can capture with this interface. The connections on the unit support analog video/audio and HDMI in both SD and HD formats. The device is connected by a cable to either a PCIe card or ExpressCard/34 interface, so this unit can be used on either desktop or laptop computers.
Avid Media Composer compatible hardware is manufactured by AJA Video Systems, Blackmagic Design, BlueFish, Matrox and MOTU.
Discontinued breakout I/O hardware
Avid systems used to ship with Avid branded I/O boxes, like Mojo, Adrenaline and Nitris. In recent years, Avid ceased to produce their own hardware, instead collaborating with companies like Blackmagic Design and AJA, releasing customized Avid-branded I/O boxes, like the Artist DNxIO, DNxIQ and DNxIV. As of December 31, 2022, Avid stopped selling Artist DNx series I/O hardware and discontinued the product line. Avid no longer manufacture or sell breakout I/O hardware.
Avid Adrenaline: Rack mountable interface which includes Composite, S-Video, Component and SDI video, 4 channels of XLR, 4 channels of AES, 2 channels of S/PDIF and 8 channels of ADAT audio. This interface also has an expansion slot for the DNxcel card which adds HD-SDI input and output as well as a DVI and HD component outputs. The DNxcel card uses Avid's DNxHD compression which is available in 8-bit color formats up to 220mb as well as a 10-bit color format at 220mb. The DNxcel card also adds real-time SD down-convert and HD cross-convert.
Avid Mojo: Includes Composite and S-Video with two channels of RCA audio. There is an optional component video cable that can be added to this interface. This interface only supports SD video formats.
Avid Mojo SDI: Includes Composite, S-Video, Component and SDI video, with 4 channels RCA, 4 channels AES and 2 channels optical S/PDIF audio. This interface only supports SD video formats.
Avid Mojo DX: A newer version of the Mojo with architecture supporting full 1920x1080 HD resolution in addition to standard definition video. This interface has SDI/HD-SDI inputs and outputs, HDMI outputs and stereo 1/4" TRS audio inputs and outputs.
Avid Nitris DX: A replacement to the Adrenaline hardware, a successor to the original Avid Nitris (used with Avid DS and Avid Symphony), with architecture offering faster processing and full 1920x1080 HD resolution (without extra cards) in addition to standard definition video. This interface also has a hardware DNxHD codec.
Artist DNxIP: Break out box manufactured by AJA which allows users to stream and receive HD and 2K video over IP,
Discontinued third-party software
Some boxed versions of Media Composer came with the following third party software:
Avid FX - 2D & 3D compositing and titling software (aka Boris RED)
Sorenson Squeeze - Compression software to create, Windows Media, QuickTime, MPEG 1/2, MPEG 4 or Flash video (v8 monthly/annual subscription only)
SonicFire Pro 5 - music creation software (includes 2 CDs of music tracks)
Avid DVD by Sonic - DVD and Blu-ray authoring software (Windows only; no longer updated as of v8)
NewBlue Titler Pro - 2D and 3D video title software (v8 perpetual licenses bundled with v1, subscription licenses with v2)
Boris Continuum Complete - 2D and 3D graphics and effects (v8 monthly/annual subscription only)